Every negative move you make in business is always twice as bad as it first seems!

The headline concerns the creation of a ‘double-negative’, and here is a simple example: a sales person makes an appointment to see a prime prospect at 10am on a Monday morning, however he doesn’t arrive until 10.20, and is then told that the person he had the appointment with will not see him. Not only will this sales person certainly miss out on a sale, his company’s reputation will suffer badly in the eyes of the prospect...and so you have a definite ‘double-negative’. Here is a selection of double-negatives that must be avoided at all costs…

• A sales person makes an appointment to see a prime prospect, but after only 15 minutes of discussion the prospect states that he must get to a meeting, and tells the sales person that he will ‘think about it’ and let him know if he wishes to go further. Nothing is heard from the prospect and he won’t return phone calls, and so the first negative is that no sale will be made, and the second negative is that the sales person has no idea what he did wrong…and so chances are high that he will continue to make the same mistakes (the lesson is to do sufficient work before the interview to ensure that the meeting is successful, because you are going to present ideas to create serious progress, not just talk about ‘products’ that he already buys)

• A good customer calls an organization asking for help, and although he is promised an answer ‘immediately’, he does not receive a call and so after three days the good customer decides to buy elsewhere. The first negative is of course the loss of a customer, and the second is that by the time management finds out about the problem, no one has any idea what ‘might’ have gone wrong (the lesson is to instil in service staff the need to respond as promised, and perhaps customers should be told by management that they will receive a $100 gift voucher if they report service problems…by email to management)

• Sales staff are asked to attend a training session that is full of hackneyed, ‘sure-fire techniques’ and void of relevant and valuable ideas and strategies. The first negative is a mixture of time spent off the road (meaning loss of sales) and no helpful content (meaning that sales staff will not improve, and nor will their results), and the second negative is that staff will forever remember the occasion and talk freely to all and sundry about how hopeless management is at helping the sales team. Several major banks have had a problem in this area for years (the lesson is to treat the issue seriously and to organise high quality, practical education and motivation for the sales team…on a dietary basis, and not just for one or two days, once a year)

• Sales staff with bad attitudes, unprofessional behaviour and unacceptable performances are retained by the organization. The first negative relates to low-level results created for customers and the company, and the second is the poisonous effect their presence has on staff who are prepared to do things right (do the customers a big favour and get these people out...and then watch the rest of the team rise in motivation and results)

• A company outlays expenditure on traditional advertising (‘because we have to’) and gets little or nothing back in results. The first negative is cost and the second is a mixture of nothing gained and bewilderment on the part of sales staff that such feeble strategies continue to be used (the lesson is to remember that the definition of advertising is “money invested to cause sales”, and does not suggest that traditional media activities are what is needed. At Schwarzkopf, I used to spend advertising money on staff incentives and customer conferences, and got great results)

‘Errors of judgement’ are what cause mistakes to occur in business, resulting in double-negatives. In a court of law they go to great lengths to reach judgements that are correct and fair, and most companies use very good judgement when they design and make products…but they do not exercise good judgement on the conduct of staff or agents.